If you’ve just launched your business website or you are planning to do so, this list is essential for you, and it’ll save you a substantial amount of time spent searching for places that are right for your business. Of course, if your business has been online for some time now, you should also go through this list – I am sure you skipped some good platforms that could drive a decent amount of traffic to your website.

Promoting your website can turn into a really costly activity, and someone running a small business or just beginning the business venture can’t possibly have enough money to pay for everything. That’s why we are here to help you. This list of 50 free places to promote your business will equip you with enough channels to considerably boost your online visibility. Let’s not waste any more time and dive into this eye-opening list:

online directories

If you’ve just launched your business website or you are planning to do so, this list is essential for you, and it’ll save you a substantial amount of time spent searching for places that are right for your business. Of course, if your business has been online for some time now, you should also go through this list – I am sure you skipped some good platforms that could drive a decent amount of traffic to your website.

If you are a business owner, then you should create a profile on every platform that can be relevant for you. Here’s a list of the ones you shouldn’t skip, because they present an excellent opportunity to increase your online visibility.

1. Google My Business – One of the first things you should do when you start a business is go over to Google My Business and fill out all the information about your company. Whether you run a local café or an online shop, it is essential to have correct info about your business presented in the Google search.

2. Bing Places for Business – Although it has a smaller market share, Bing covers 33% of searches, which isn’t insignificant. That’s why you should definitely register for this service. It is basically like Google My Business, just for Bing.

3. Merchant Circle – Local business listing where users can compare deals and leave reviews. The platform is designed with a social media component in mind, and that’s what sets Merchant Circle apart from other business directories.

4. BBB – Better Business Bureau or BBB is one of the oldest business review platforms, and although there are some controversies surrounding their rating system, they proved to be a good intermediary between companies and customers.

5. Yellow Pages – It is a local directory that is well known all across the globe. The biggest advantage of being listed on the Yellow Pages website is that they have nailed their SEO in the majority of local markets, which gives your listing a better chance of being seen.

6. Manta – This is another small business directory that is good for a local business. They have about 13 million monthly users and very specific industry categories, which makes this website easy to navigate.

7. Yelp – Although this platform is more popular with restaurant owners, you can also use it if you do business in other industries. If you claim your business on this platform, it is important to check it frequently to see what your customers are saying about your brand. Companies that manage their reviews (especially the bad ones) gain more popularity with the users, which can do wonders for the brand awareness and visibility on the platform. To obtain more positive reviews, you could encourage your existing customers to drop by and leave a few kind words.

8. TripAdvisor – This is a platform for tourists. Besides hotels, hostels and apartments, this platform is used by restaurant and bar owners. If you can utilize this platform, it can be a great source for both foreign and domestic customers.

9. Angie’s List – A website that provides user-generated reviews of local businesses. The main objective of this website is to advise users on where they can find reliable services.

10. DexKnows – This is a website and an app that combines different features: from an address book and driving directions to a local business directory. Their neat application is useful for tourists, because it gives them a nice overview of the whole town and its local businesses.

11. Foursquare – What makes this app different from other local business directories is that it has a social component to it. In 2014, they released their spin-off app called Swarm to increase check-ins and interaction between users. In return, the app provides the data which determine the popularity of the local listings.

12. GetApp – If you’ve just published an app, then this online app directory is for you. It is specialized for business apps, and it can be a potential lead generation channel.

13. SaaSGenius – This is a great online directory specialized for SaaS solutions. You should really take some time to populate your whole profile so that it doesn’t look poorly in comparison to others. This platform is designed to be a place where users can find and compare different SaaS solutions and make their decision based on these findings. That said, this listing can bring you some serious customers.

14. Software Advice – Designed particularly for the companies that develop software solutions aimed at small and mid-sized businesses, Software Advice can help you gain exposure with industry-relevant buyers. If your product is eligible for this platform, you should definitely consider it because it can attract lots of quality leads.

15. DMOZ – DMOZ online directory maybe lacks in design, but it compensates in the number of listings. It is an open-content directory that is maintained by a community of volunteers and contains almost every relevant website there is.

social media platform

Although social media platforms have been all the rage for quite some time now, many business owners still don’t use the full potential these platforms have. Sure, you probably have a few accounts set up to promote your business, but that’s not nearly enough. There’s a whole slew of new (and old) platforms that you can leverage to make your business more renewed in your industry, so join those communities and start the conversation with your potential customers. Here’s a list that you should definitely consider for your website:

16. Facebook Page – If you haven’t created it already, Facebook Page is a place to start when it comes to the promotion of your website and business. When creating your page, make sure you choose the right category for your business and fill all the information as well as the ‘About’ section to make it more appealing.

17. Twitter – If you are doing your business in the tech sector, then being present on Twitter is highly recommended. Here you can post news about your company, new articles that you’ve published, and keep in touch with industry-relevant influencers.

18. YouTube – Many people don’t consider YouTube to be the place where you can promote your website. If you already have some kind of promotional or explainer video, it doesn’t hurt to upload it on YouTube and point some more people to your website.

19. Google+ – It is known that this isn’t the most popular social network, but you should definitely create a profile for your business here. This is, after all, a Google product, so a profile on Google+ can have a big impact on your SEO and traffic.

20. Instagram – What was once a platform for teenagers has now become a valuable platform for promotion. Running a profile on this platform can drive traffic to your website and give your brand a more “human” approach.

21. Pinterest – This is a great platform for fashion/jewelry/DIY/design-oriented ventures, or basically for any business that produces attractive, original photos or graphics.

22. Snapchat – This is a fairly new social media platform that attracts mostly younger audience. It can be used for brand awareness if you find a creative way to present your brand.

23. StumbleUpon – This is a personal discovery engine that allows people to search the web by their custom interests. If you run an interesting blog, then you should most definitely submit your pages to Stumbleupon.

24. Reddit – It’s something between a social media platform and social news aggregator, but don’t let the high volume of links posted on this network fool you – Reddit is one of the toughest crowds on the Internet when it comes to marketing. This community doesn’t allow shameless self-promotion, but they will give you valuable feedback and if you play your cards right, they can become your most loyal customers.

25. Digg – One of the most famous content curation networks, Digg is good for a company that has a blog. The success on this platform will correlate with the time you invest in building your profile, but with 21 million unique visitors per month it just may be worth your while.

26. Tumblr – Designed mainly for bloggers, this social network/microblogging platform can also be used for business. The key element of success is to try and make your post more humorous. To attract an audience to your website, you need to see what is trending and combine that with your message.

27. LinkedIn – Every respectable business needs to have a LinkedIn profile. With 450 million in membership, this business-oriented social network serves as a platform where people find work, partners and vendors.

28. SlideShare – Powered by LinkedIn, SlideShare is the most popular hosting service for slide decks. Most businesses already have a well-designed presentation about their company, so why not upload those slides on SlideShare to reach a much larger audience.

29. AngelList – Although the AngelList was primarily built for matching startups and investors that want to fund them, this platform has become a tech company database over the years. If you are in the entrepreneurship game, you have to create a profile on this platform.

30. Quora – When it comes to Quora, you need to forget about shameless self-promotion. This is a question-and-answer based platform that really awards and appreciates experts and penalizes anyone who is there only for promotional purposes. You can create a topic for your company, but you need to give valuable answers to the community.

31. We heart it – This is another image-based social network that’s a good fit for brands that rely on beautiful visuals. Users come to this platform in search of inspiration, so if you plan to utilize it, make sure your images are truly inspirational, and are not just your average advertising visuals.

32. Dailymotion – If your company already has a few promotional videos, then you should create an account on this network. Dailymotion has a strong community and 338 million monthly visits. That said, you might consider making some funny, engaging or in any way creative video material and make it go viral on this platform.

33. Vimeo – Another video-sharing website that can be used for your business promotion. Vimeo became popular because it was the first platform to support HD videos, and nowadays its name is a synonym for quality videos on the web.

content management

If you have a website for your business but still don’t have a blog, then you should consider starting one as soon as possible. Not only will your blog get people to engage more on your website, but you can also use those blog posts to promote your website across multiple content aggregation platforms. Remember, your content should always provide value to the readers so that more people will want to share it. Whatever the subject of your articles, here’s a list of places where you can promote it.

34. Flipboard – The founders will say that this is a social magazine, but the bottom line is that Flipboard is an awesomely designed content curation platform. It really looks good, and it has the feel of an online magazine which attracts many visitors. This is a great opportunity for every business that has a blog, especially if it is a niche one.

35. AllTop – The biggest and most famous news aggregator website, AllTop is a great place where you can submit your blog posts and potentially get discovered by millions of people visiting this website.

36. EzineArticles – In simplest terms, this is an article directory where you can syndicate your blog posts. Submission is free and in return you get a link to your website and the opportunity to reach larger audience.

37. Hub Pages – You need to create original content for this platform, one that wasn’t published elsewhere, but you can promote your website or blog in your ‘about the author’ section. This might be time-consuming, but depending on the industry you do business in, it might attract tons of quality traffic and leads.

38. Scoop.it – Primarily a platform for content curation, Scoop.it also has a social component. You can syndicate your posts, but in order to gain some traction, you need to build a following. This means that you need to spend some time socializing with influencers and making connections on the platform.

39. Medium – This is a well-known online publishing platform that attracts mostly journalists and bloggers, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t leverage it for your business. Create a profile for your company and share your core values, mission and vision with the world.

40. LinkedIn Pulse – Another LinkedIn feature that you can use to spread the word about your company. Publishing articles on LinkedIn Pulse is especially recommended for B2B businesses because most of its readers are there for industry-specific news and in-depth articles. This platform is especially good if you want to establish yourself as an authority in your field, which will simultaneously do wonders for your business.

press release

When something happens in your company that is newsworthy, then a press release is in order, everyone knows that, but not everyone can write a good press release. If you plan to distribute your press release for journalists to pick it up, then you should keep in mind that it is better to write as if you were a journalist yourself. This basically means to keep boasting to a minimum and stick to the facts and benefits for your users. When your press release is ready, you need to submit it to as many places as possible. That’s where we come in. Here are the platforms that let you post for free:

41. PRLog – It’s an easy-to-use platform where you can submit your press release for free if it is under 500 words. This is more than enough to get your point across and explain to the world what’s new in your company.

42. Free Press Release – For a website that has the word ‘free’ in its domain, this company doesn’t offer that much in their free plan. Nevertheless, if you have a press release and you want to submit it everywhere you can, you should definitely use the opportunity to submit it here also.

43. 24-7 PressRelease – This platform also offers a free option, but the downside of it is the fact that your submission might not end up being picked if the editors decide it’s not worth their time.

44. Open PR – For their free plan you have a limit of 3 press releases per day, and that is more than enough. If your needs exceed that number, then you should really consider another, paid packages.

photos

If you read even just one article on the website promotion subject, then you most certainly saw how much emphasis marketers put on visual content. In a competitive market where tons of brands compete for user’s attention, visual content can make a difference. Whether you post photos of your employees, creative images and graphics or cleverly made infographics, you need to find places where you can share them with a larger audience. That’s why we suggest you check out this list of places that are specialized in promotion of different kinds of visual content.

45. Flickr – Predominantly used by amateur photography community, Flickr can also be useful for your business. You can create a profile and link it to your website and then upload photos and use visual storytelling to attract potential customers.

46. Visually – It’s a great place where you can create and upload infographics. Visually brings together quite a large audience, so besides brand awareness, you can also sell your infographics here.

47. Infographics Archive – An excellent place for infographic dissemination. On this platform, you can share your infographic and get a link to your website.

48. Infographics Showcase – Here you can submit a promotional infographic and accompanying content. It doesn’t have many monthly visitors, but it’s a neat website where you can showcase your business.

49. Submit Infographics – This is the oldest infographics depository on the web. It has a Pinterest-like feed, and users can rate your submissions.

50. Infographix Directory – The name is pretty self-explanatory just like all those we previously listed. You can submit an infographic and write a small descriptions to go with it.

Now that you have gone through this list of free places where you can promote your website, the only thing that’s left is to put in the work and create a strong presence on the platforms that you find relevant for your website.

If you still don’t have a business website or you’re in need of a website makeover before you start promoting it, then we have more good news for you. Create a beautiful website with ucraft by utilizing one of our website templates designed for business owners. You don’t need to have any coding skills, just an inspiration and a few minutes of your time. When your website is built, it will be much easier to promote it with its new sleek look that ucraft will provide.

This article was published first on ucraft.com and you can read it here.